Dispensing apparatus



March 18, 1941. w s 2,235,623

DISPENSING APPARATiJs Filed June 28, 1940 IN VENTOR.

Patented Mar. 18, 1941 DISPENSING APPARATUS Walter 0. Ross, Springfield, Mass., assignor .to American Tissue Mills, Holyoke, Mass., a cor- I poration of Massachusetts Application June 28, 1940, Serial No. 342,962

I 2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in paper-dispensing devices and is directed more particularly to an; improved construction including a box for containing a roll or fold of 5 paper and having means whereby a certain amount thereof can be readily severed from the roll or'fold.

It is a special object ofthe invention to provide a dispensing package for paper or the like 1 in roll form having a unique and unusually economical means of facilitating detachment or removal of a portion or section of the paper from the box-contained body thereof. That is to say,

the invention includes a receptacle having means 15 incorporated therewith whereby severance of paper from the roll or sheet is facilitated.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel device which may be simply and economically made and which is of such a nature 20 that it may be easily associated with a container in such a way as to give to the same particular qualities rendering it truly of a dispensing charaoter. That is to say, I have provided a device which may be sold' apart from a container or 25 receptacle but which may be readily attached by the purchaser to a container to transform the same into a dispensing package.

With the foreging and various other novel features and advantages and other objects of my 30 invention as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the 35 claims hereunto annexed and more fully described and referred to in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a dispensing package embodying the features of the inven- 40 tion;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the package shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of one form of cutting device embodying the features of the invention;

45 and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a modified form thereof.

Referring now'to the drawing more in detail, the invention will be fully described.

50 It will be appreciated that what I hereinafter refer to as a box, container, or receptacle may vary widely in form and that the particular new features of the invention are not necessarily incorporated with a box of the form shown. How- 65 ever, for purposes of disclosure, I have shown a receptacle, indicated generally by 2, having front and rear walls 4 and 6, end walls 8, and a bottom wall It].

The size or shape thereof may vary but is preferably such that the carton is capable of 5 containing a roll'or the like R of waxed paper or the like. A cover member l2 may be hinged to the upper marginal edge of the rear wall 6 for overlying the top of the carton and there will be a front flap l4 hinged to the forward edge there- 10 of for extending downwardly adjacent the outside of the front wall, all as shown.

There may be end. portions or gussets It for lying adjacent the outside of the end walls 8, which portions are preferably integral with flap I4 so as to provide a relatively close-fitting cover for the container. It is possible, by reason of the construction just described, to make the box and cover of a single or unitary blank of sheet material, such as cardboard or the like. I

In any event with this arrangement, a free end portion 1' ofthe roll R may extend away therefrom downwardly between wall 4 and flap l4 so as to project beyond the lower marginal edge of the latter to permit its being grasped between the fingers. Thus a desired amount of the waxed-paper or other sheet material may be unrolled and withdrawn through the slot or space between parts 4 and M to be eventually severed from the roll or fold in a manner which will presently appear.

In Fig. 3, I have shown,and indicated generally by 30, what I call a dispensing device or what might be called a clip member. This device 30 is adapted to be associated with the container 5 in such a way that said portion 1' of the roll B may be brought into contact therewith as will be explained.

Preferably the device is adapted to embrace one of the walls of the-box and to this end the form 40 shown in Fig. 3 includes spaced side arms 32 adapted to receive therebetween a free marginal edge portion of one of the walls or flaps of the box, such as the cover flap l4 and a transverse connecting portion 34 extending therebetween. The arrangementis such that when the device is in its operative position with respect to the selected wall or flap of the carton, the side arms 32 are at opposite sides of said flap and said transverse portion 34 is substantially parallel with and preferably in substantial alignment with the free marginal edge of such flap, as shown.

In order to more firmly hold the clip member 30 in engagement with the carton, there may be transversely-extending loop portions 36 extending inwardly towards one another from, and connected to, upper ends of the side arms 32. These portions will likewise be adjacent opposite surfaces of the chosen carton-wall and I have found that best results are obtained if the looped portions 38 are integral with arms 32 and if the whole member or device is formed from a unitary length of spring-wire so that the flap or wall is yieldingly embraced.

In any event the transverse or connecting portion 34 will be provided on its outer edge with a series of teeth or serrations such as 38. Thus when the device is in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, there is a relatively short serrated edge portion in substantial alignment with the free marginal edge of the cover flap.

It should be here stated that I am familiar with so-called cutter-boxes having a serrated metallic strip secured longitudinally of a wall or flap of a carton, wherein a sheet is severed from the roll or fold therein by causing the projecting part of paper to be pressed upwardly or downwardly against said strip throughout its length and be severed thereby. Such elongated strips are not only costly to manufacture but the boxes are expensive to assemble since the strips have to be secured to the cartons by special and difiicult means.

According to my invention the clip member may be readily attached to the carton by the operator at the same time he or she is dropping the roll R into the box. That is to say, the clip is easily slipped into embracing engagement with the wall or flap and costly auxiliary operations are avoided.

Furthermore, my dispensing member is not ascostly to manufacture as is an elongated strip for extending the whole length of the box since, it will be noted, the serrated edge may be relatively short with respect to the length of the box. This all is possible because I have found that when such a clip member is located relatively close to one end of the flap or wall, severance of a sheet from the roll may be started by hearing it against this relatively short serrated edge 38 and then it will continue to tear, transversely as desired, by contact under pressure with the free marginal edge with which the serrations are substantially co-planar.

In Fig. 4, there is shown a modified form of dispensing or clip device which is capable of performing the function accomplished with that just described.

Here there is a U-shaped clip member including a pair of spaced plate members 40 and 42 for lying adjacent opposite surfaces of the flap M or other wall of the carton, which members are joined at upper or lower edges as the case may be. The marginal edge portion of the flap i4 is received in the open side or end of the U and its closed end is intended to lie substantially in alignment with the free edge of the flap.

Said closed end or side is formed to have .a series of teeth or serrations 44, as shown, and

these may be formed in various ways as by cutting into the clip, which is preferably formed of metal. The plate members 40 and 42 may embrace the carton by means of a spring-like action by virtue of a tension in the metal or there may be prongs such as 48 struck up from either or both of the plates.

Thus the U-shaped member may be slipped onto the flap and its oppositely-disposed plates squeezed together so that the flap is impinged. This device will preferably be located near one end of the flap M, as was the device 30 and the severing of the paper will be brought about in substantially the same way as was described.

It will be appreciated, as stated above, that the carton may vary in construction as by having the flap l4 disposable inside the front wall 4 and the paper withdrawable upwardly therebetween. In this latter case the dispensing device of the invention would be associated with the front wall rather than the closure flap.

Manifestly the specific details of construction may be considerably varied from those herein shown. and described Without involving any departure from the principle of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages inherent therein. While I have described my invention in this specification in great detail and particularly with respect to the present preferred form thereof, it

is not desired to be limited thereto since many changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. I

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. Hence, the present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects merely as being illustrative and not as being restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all modifications and variations as fall-within the meaning and purview and range of equivalency of the appended claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What it is desired to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination of a dispensing device for lengths of paper from aroll thereof having a wall over the edge of which paper may be drawn from said receptaclewith-means at the edge of said wall for cutting said paper comprising, a single elongated length of yieldable wire bent to provide relatively yieldable end parts for engaging opposite faces of the wall and yieldingly embracing said wall, and an intermediate longitudinal part extending along and over the edge of said wall at. one endthereof and terminating at a distance from 'itsother end and provided with teeth for cutting paper drawn over said edge.

2. The combination with a device for dispensing successive lengths of paper from a roll thereof .having a wall over the edge of which paper may be drawn from said receptacle of a cutter at said edge for cutting said paper comprising, a member formed from yieldable material to provide spaced sets of superposed end parts for receiving therebetween the wall of the receptacle and yieldingly embracing said wall to hold said cutter in place thereon and a longitudinal part extending between certain parts of the sets for overlying the edge of said wall and provided with teeth for cutting paper.

- WALTER c. ROSS. 

